The chief becomes one of the most prominent local figures to support the idea and his stance is certain to further inflame critics who are already angry at Beck's efforts to liberalize the rules on how his officers impound the cars of unlicensed drivers.

"My personal belief is that they should be able to" have licenses, Beck said in response to a question during a meeting with Times' reporters and editorial writers.

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"The reality is that all the things that we've done -- 'we' being the state of California -- over the last 14, 16 years have not reduced the problem one iota, haven't reduced undocumented aliens driving without licenses. So we have to look at what we're doing. When something doesn't work over and over and over again, my view is that you should reexamine it to see if there is another way that makes more sense."

Beck said he does not believe licenses for illegal immigrants should be identical to regular ones.

Saying "it could be a provisional license, it could be a nonresident license," he acknowledged that state officials would have to find ways to address widely held concerns that offering licenses to people in the county illegally could make it easier for terrorists go undetected.

For Beck, however, such concerns are outweighed by what he said would be improved safety on California roads and the ability of police to identify the people they encounter.

"Why wouldn't you want to put people through a rigorous testing process? Why wouldn't you want to better identify people who are going to be here?" he said.

"It doesn’t make any sense to me. And we could increase safety on the roads. When you make things illegal you cause a lot of other things by chain reaction."

Beck, for example, said he would expect the number of hit-and-run accidents to decrease if illegal immigrants were licensed, because illegal immigrant drivers would not have to fear being caught without a license at accidents.

Beck's stance on the issue stems from his push in recent months to make controversial changes in the LAPD's vehicle impound rules for unlicensed drivers.

Because illegal immigrants cannot receive licenses in California, they are presumed to make up a disproportionate percentage of the state's unlicensed drivers and, Beck believes, have been unfairly affected by the current impound protocols.

Currently, officers can opt between two parts of the state vehicle code when impounding an unlicensed driver's vehicle.

One allows an owner to retrieve the car from the impound lot immediately, while the other keeps it impounded for 30 days -- a delay that comes with fees and fines that typically exceed $1,200.

Under Beck's proposed changes, officers would be required to use the more lenient approach when impounding cars of unlicensed drivers who have auto insurance, a legitimate form of identification and no previous convictions for unlicensed driving. (People driving on suspended or revoked licenses or those who do not satisfy the department's requirements would have their cars impounded with the 30-day hold.)

Beck has defended the proposed changes against angry rebukes from people who say the new rules would essentially reward people for breaking the law and allow potentially dangerous drivers to remain on the roads.

The department is delaying the new changes until city officials can review a recent legal opinion from state lawyers that called into question the legality of the moves.

He made his position clear at a meeting with Los Angeles Times editors and reporters on Wednesday.

During the meeting, Beck acknowledged California's failure to put a stop to unlicensed driving. He suggested that issuing even "provisional" or "nonresident" licenses would have a huge impact on regulating the road while differentiating documented residents from the undocumented, a distinction that Beck believes would still be important.

Beck on driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants, from the LA Times:

Why wouldn't you want to put people through a rigorous testing process? Why wouldn't you want to better identify people who are going to be here? It doesn't make any sense to me. And we could increase safety on the roads. When you make things illegal you cause a lot of other things by chain reaction.

Those "other things" include a higher rate of uninsured drivers on the road and erratic driving behavior, which lead to more hit-and-run collisions.

A San Francisco Chronicle analysis of California statistics found that hit-and-run collisions accounted for 7.8 percent of traffic accident deaths in 2001 -- more than twice the national average, which was 3.8 percent at the time.

More recent reports show that there were 15,611 hit-and-run collisions in California that left 20,260 injured and 185 dead, according to a 2009 annual report from the California Highway Patrol [PDF].

The Los Angeles police chief has been more vocal on the issue of unlicensed driving in his effort to change the LAPD’s vehicle impound rules. Beck's proposed impound reforms would do away with the current standard of a 30-day vehicle impound and fines of up to $2,000 for all unlicensed drivers -- a burden that he thinks is unfair on undocumented immigrants, notes CBS.

He says allowing illegal immigrants to obtain licenses, which would be non-resident or provisional, would make them safer drivers and less likely to flee from the scene of an accident.

Beck also plans to address concerns that it could make it easier for terrorists to go undetected.

“I look at this almost like we wouldn’t want to deny someone health care if they have a communicable disease because they were here illegally because then they’d spread it around and we’d get it,” Dan Rosenberg, a driver safety activist whose son was killed by an unlicensed driver in 2010, told CBS2. “So in this case, I’d much rather have somebody learn how to drive and reduce the number of accidents than to let them keep driving without licenses, without any accountability and continue killing people.”

However, many Angelenos don’t support the proposed licenses.

“I don’t know where Beck’s coming from. I can’t believe that he’s our chief with that attitude,” Michael Gillespie said. “Illegals are illegals. I can agree that, sure, they probably won’t run from an accident if they do have a license and aren’t afraid of being arrested, but, no, I don’t agree with him at all.”

Beck is already battling criticism from public safety groups, including the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which are fighting another LAPD proposal that would keep unlicensed drivers from facing a 30-day impound.

The current policy calls for drivers who are stopped without a license to have their cars immediately impounded, which can cost as much as $1,500.

The plan would offer a reprieve to individuals who were not involved in a serious accident and whose licenses had not been suspended or revoked license.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people justify and encourage illegal immigration. Like, hello....these people aren't suppose to be here in the first place but we keep giving them stuff which only encouraged more illegals. Insane!

It never ceases to amaze me how many people justify and encourage illegal immigration. Like, hello....these people aren't suppose to be here in the first place but we keep giving them stuff which only encouraged more illegals. Insane!

I agree Jean, it is like they keep saying well they are going to break the law anyway so let's just make it easier for them. Our laws are a joke to illegal immigrants. They thumb their noses at our laws. Break our laws, invent a sob story and you get your 15 minutes of fame all sponsored by pro-illegal immigrant adovacy groups. If your lucky you can even get a job promoting the illegal immigrant movement and a trip to the White House.

You mean like passing an unlawful and Unconstitutional law harboring and protecting the largest populations of illegal aliens in the history of the United States and sponsoring and providing a home base for their invasion of the rest of the country?

It's a controversial topic, but one California lawmaker is suggesting making driver licenses available to illegal immigrants.

It may seem like a contradiction, issuing state documents to undocumented drivers, but it's exactly what high profile lawmaker Gil Cedillo suggests.

Margaret Siemens has lived in Bakersfield almost all her life.

She's concerned about safety when she's on the road and knows there is a large number of undocumented drivers. “I think allowing people, regardless of their citizenship status, to have a drivers license is a good idea because that means they will be tested and are more likely to be safer drivers which is important to me," she said.

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck backs a plan to allow undocumented drivers to obtain licenses. He says, “I believe that we should license undocumented immigrants in the state of California. I think it makes motoring safer, the public safer.”

While undocumented immigrants can't obtain a driver license, they are able to have auto insurance.

California Assemblyman Gil Cedillo of Los Angeles, has attempted to pass several bills to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver license, but they were all vetoed, and now Governor Jerry Brown is also voicing his opinion against it.

California continues to be the state with the largest population of illegal immigrants in the United States.

ALIPAC supporters in California have done the most to support this organization, and to fight for immigration enforcement bills in all states while fighting to help you stop pro illegal alien bills.

Today, we need ALIPAC supporters in ALL STATES responding quickly, fervently, and accurately to our activism alert to STOP ILLEGAL ALIENS FROM RECEIVING LICENSES in California which would devastate our efforts.

ALIPAC's President William Gheen will be on the Geraldo Rivera radio show on 790 KABC Los Angeles this morning at 10am Pacific Time to challenge Geraldo's support for licenses for illegal aliens legislation in California that has recently been filed.

Please tune in to the show if you can. We need someone to please make a digital recording of this portion of Geraldo's show for us to share with others. you can listen on 790am if you are near Los Angeles or from anywhere in the world via this link